Strategies for Successfully Recruiting a Diverse …

1 Strategies for Successfully Recruiting a Diverse faculty I. A Prerequisite to Searching for and Hiring Minority faculty Members Engage in a needs assessment and the self-study process. The needs and goals of an academic program must be the basis of the program's decision-making. A program must first identify its needs in relation to several aspects of its educational goals. These include its course offerings, curriculum development, research interests, current and future faculty and student demographics, and, in particular, plans for developing a culturally Diverse setting. Purpose: To clarify what abilities a person should possess as a faculty member and if these abilities can best be found in ethnic minority faculty members. (Ex. Is there an interest in incorporating or emphasizing multicultural content in course offerings? Is there a need for specific topic courses such as African-American Psychology? Is there a need for faculty to conduct research on minority issues?)

2 Is there a need to provide role models and support for a growing number of minority students?). Campus Climate Issues: Quality of life factors and campus/community climate needs are also important components to consider when examining and setting goals for diversification. Minorities are not hired simply because they can conduct research and teach courses with a multicultural emphasis. They are hired because they can help diversify and provide balance to the campus community. The minority member's contributions to the department and campus in addressing diversity by his/her mere presence is also of value. Self-study questions. A decision to diversify the faculty of a program may reside in one or several components and should guide the program's expectations for an ethnic minority faculty member once hired. Some questions to be considered as part of a needs assessment/self-study process are: What is the stated mission of the program? What are the demographics of the institution and the community in which it resides?

3 What are the demographics of prospective students who have applied or who have been admitted to the program? How many students of color are majors? How many graduate students? Are there Strategies for Recruiting ethnically Diverse students? How many faculty /staff of color are in the program? How many courses address ethnic diversity issues? Is diversity part of the content of required courses? Are students exposed to experimental opportunities/field trips that focus on diversity as part of course requirements? Do guest speakers include people from Diverse ethnic backgrounds addressing issues both of diversity and other topics within the field? How are students of color supported academically? Do students of color have ethnically Diverse faculty to serve as role models on the campus? Do majority faculty have an interest in working with ethnically- Diverse students? Are there any tensions between white students/ faculty and ethnically Diverse students/ faculty ?

4 Do students of color have difficulty finding faculty to chair their theses or dissertation committees or gaining acceptance of their topics when they address issues of diversity? Are funds set aside specifically for Recruiting ethnic minority faculty ? Program expectations. Expectations a program has of minority candidates should be equivalent to those of any faculty candidate. Adding expectations for ethnic minority activities to other academic responsibilities could result in (1) the candidate losing interest in a position or (2) jeopardizing the new faculty member's retention, once hired. It is important, therefore, to prioritize needs based on a prioritized list of ethnic diversity activities and to exercise care in decision-making about responsibilities assigned to a new faculty member of color. Priorities should be grounded in the various aspects of diversity an ethnic minority candidate could bring to a department and its emerging needs in response to the above list of questions and the self-study process.

5 Note: When you hire a minority faculty candidate for his/her ability to teach courses related to diversity or just for his/her presence as part of a Diverse university faculty community, it is important to recognize the value of these contributions in tenure evaluation, whether the contributions are in diversity research, teaching, or service. You must consider and acknowledge contributions to cultural diversity on par with other criteria for tenure and promotion. For minority candidates, it is important to recognize that contributions to cultural diversity at VCU may constitute a form of service to be taken into account. Page 2. II. Components to Consider in Developing an Ethnically-Sensitive Position Announcement Position announcements typically contain three pieces of information: (a) An overview of the department/institution (b) Primary job responsibilities (c) Qualifications for the position An ethnically sensitive position announcement should include the above information as well as content that addresses the following: (a) The importance of issues of diversity (b) The value placed upon those who can share and teach differing points of view (c) A description of an atmosphere where ethnic minority faculty members can receive support from other ethnic minority faculty members The program/institutional overview portion of the advertisement should provide information on the makeup of the ethnic student population and/or some information on institutional goals that identify commitment to diversity.

6 A clear message may be written about the campus climate and the value placed on ethnic minority representation and/or faculty diversification. Examples: * The university has a student body of over 25,000 undergraduate, graduate and first professional students, including 36 percent of students of color and 1,544 international students from 125 countries. The university aspires to become a leader among its peer institutions in making meaningful and lasting progress in responding to the needs and concerns of minorities and women. The university places a high priority on the creation of an environment supportive of the promotion of ethnic minorities, women, and persons with disabilities. The university seeks to create a work environment and organizational culture that reflect the society and community in which it is located and a climate for the success of every employee by appreciating the uniqueness that each one brings to the workplace.

7 In a continuing effort to enrich its academic environment and provide equal educational and employment opportunities, the university actively encourages applications from members of all ethnic groups underrepresented in higher education. Conveying job responsibilities. A program should identify job responsibilities in association with its needs, goals, and/or mission. The aim is to inform potential applicants of the program's genuine interest in them and the expertise they bring to the workplace in helping achieve a more culturally- Diverse academic environment. Responsibilities of a position should be clearly stated. In an instance of broad-based curricula needs, an advertisement might identify the need for a person with the skills necessary to develop courses that incorporate issues of ethnic diversity. Another job responsibility might be to work with and advise students representing various ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Or, a program may simply want to have Diverse viewpoints represented among its membership to promote academic excellence.

8 None of these responsibilities need to be unique, but could be used in combination with developing an advertisement as noted below in the examples. Examples: Develop a program in Asian-American Psychology Develop training models and curricula designed to reduce physical and mental health risk in ethnically- Diverse populations Serve as role models for African-American, Latino, or Native American students Writing job qualifications. Two main requirements in developing qualifications are: (a) clarity and specificity, and (b) flexibility. Poorly specified or unclear job qualifications increase the risk that excellent ethnic minority candidates will be eliminated for various undefined reasons, such as that they were not qualified as faculty for the program. Page 3. A tendency toward the comfort of homogeneity also results in committees not hiring candidates that fit their own model. Moving away from being satisfied with candidates who are most similar to existing faculty to considering candidates that are different involves more expanded and innovative ways of thinking about faculty positions.

9 This flexibility in thinking about job qualifications is part of understanding and valuing diversity and creates the opportunity for attracting ethnic minority applicants who can make significant contributions, initiate new ways of thinking, and introduce more Diverse ideologies. Career paths for ethnic minorities may vary in comparison to mainstream and/or white candidates. Therefore, when developing job qualifications, search committees need to identify characteristics that allow for more varied backgrounds and experiences. This helps to prevent ethnic minorities and others who may have less traditional career paths from being eliminated from the pool of viable candidates for a position. If a candidate has not had extensive experience, a situation that may be the result of past discriminatory practice, should that rule out his/her ability to perform the job Successfully if given the opportunity? Can a similar, but not parallel, work history provide enough experience for an applicant to assume a position, even though on paper it may not be immediately apparent?

10 Does the candidate have potential that, with support and mentoring, could develop the ingredients of a successful faculty member? Search committees must be sensitive to differences and guided by this awareness when outlining the important and unique qualifications desired in a job applicant. Although this way of thinking may not be new, its use in developing job qualifications that are later used in the selection and screening process can contribute to broadening the committee's perspective, thus promoting and supporting diversification in the pool of candidates to be considered for a given position. Qualifications described in the position announcement should focus upon opening the pool to a wide range of applicants, in particular to ethnic minority candidates. Use a broader definition of scholarship that encompasses specialities in ethnic minority issues. Abilities to teach in a number of areas should be the aim in developing the list of qualifications.